Many variations of the basic carbohydrate ring structure are to be found in biological systems in the form of chain and branched structures. These structures are to be found on the surfaces of cells where they serve as the elements of recognition between cells and other processes. Crystallography has been done on some of the variational units and on a few small chains. We have begun a graphics project to construct as many of the naturally occurring structures as have been reported in the literature. In order to produce realistic structures, an energy minimization program is being used to find energy-minimum and therefore stable conformations. Data from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments also will be used to help determine the shape of the carbohydrate structures. Preliminary model construction and minimization indicates that carbohydrates are rather more rigid than amino or nucleic acids. If this proves to be true in general, the shape of a complex structure will be simply and perhaps uniquely determined by the type and connection of the components.